So much for the compassion part of "compassionate conservatism."
At 7:30pm on a Friday night, the Bush Administration sent states new restrictions for State Children Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP). The new restrictions will decimate any chance states will have to insure children by:
Under Bush's unilateral decree, any state that has already expanded or plans to expand SCHIP beyond 250% of the poverty level, a meager $51,625 for a family of four, will have to meet new guidelines that SCHIP experts and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office say are impossible to meet. States must:
show they've enrolled 95% of children below 200% of poverty who are eligible for either Medicaid or SCHIP,
charge premiums that approximate private coverage and impose a one-year waiting period, during which children are uninsured, in order to prevent children from leaving private coverage, and
show that children's coverage by the private market has not decreased by more than 2% over the past five years.
Just before Congress left for its August recess, both the U.S. House and Senate approved SCHIP reauthorization bills that could bring health care coverage to as many as 4.2 million more kids, in addition to the 6.6 million already covered. The Congressional Budget Office says Bush’s SCHIP reauthorization proposal would actually drop children from the health coverage rolls.
The move by the Bush Administration is clearly intended to line the pockets of insurance companies. This is not just a tough policy decision, but corporate greed at its purest. An analysis by Progressive States Network shows that:
The one-year uninsured waiting period is purely punitive and harms children, who are susceptible to illness at young ages and need timely access to immunizations and booster shots. Going without needed care jeopardizes a child's preparedness for school and their growth. The 95% enrollment requirement is nothing short of a brick wall impeding state efforts to respond to the needs of their residents. According to SCHIP experts at Georgetown University, the CBO and Sen. Max Baucus, no state has achieved this level of enrollment. In fact, the nationwide enrollment rate among eligible children in '04-'05 was 72%. This is not an indication that states are neglecting their responsibilities. Rather, states have taken unprecedented steps to notify families and enroll eligible children through simplified enrollment steps, advertising campaigns, and direct person-to-person outreach.
Making matters worse, under the President's budget proposal no state would achieve 95% enrollment. The CBO reports the President's budget proposal for SCHIP - $30 billion for the next five years - is not enough to pay for current enrollment, about 6 million uninsured children nationwide, let alone those eligible but not enrolled. If states do not comply with these new restrictions, the Bush Administration has said that the federal government "may pursue corrective action?" Really, like what?
Contact all your elected officials and tell them that children are just a little more important than the profits of Bush's friends in the Insurance Industry.
List of numbers for your governor.
Contact your Congressman (202-225-3121) or your Senators (202-224-3121).
